He had transformed his gauntlets into a thinner barrier, which allowed him to move his fingers more easily. It wasn’t as strong or as sturdy as his gauntlets, but he didn’t really care. The sword was sharp, but nothing like what he had seen from the likes of Eren or other people.

  The most significant danger was the poison, and Julius had already proven that he could deal with it quite easily. However, he wanted to make a point. He didn’t like this guy.

  He could see why Derek told him to be mindful around this guy. Unpleasant was an understatement. He felt gross just by being in proximity.

  While he held onto the sword, he made sure to enjoy the panic wash over the guy’s face. Corbin tried to rip the sword from his grasp, but wasn’t able to budge it an inch. Julius wasn’t playing around anymore.

  He had seen enough of this guy’s skills, and to be honest, he was unsatisfied by what he saw. The guy’s poison and speed were somewhat interesting, but in all other aspects, he was lacking. In his opinion, his last opponent had been more skilled and had more potential. It was a shame that this scumbag was able to make it through to the next round of fights when Erik was sent home.

  Eventually, his opponent decided to forget the sword and pulled out a dagger, trying to stab Julius in the face. Julius scoffed, and before the dagger could reach his face, he finally let himself use [Kinetic Shell].

  The field of kinetic energy slammed into place around him, forming a protective barrier a few inches from his body. The rippling blue energy stopped the dagger in place, and Julius manipulated the kinetic energy to surround the guy’s hand as well as the dagger.

  He wasn’t gentle either; he forcibly clamped down on his opponent’s limb and crushed it. The dagger stopped a few inches from his face, and he heard the crunch of something in the guy’s hand fracture from the force of the kinetic energy.

  The arrogant teen cried out in agony and tried to pull back, but Julius had a firm grip on him. He didn’t have any plans to let him go either. He held him there, using his kinetic energy to force the guy to look Julius in the eyes.

  Anger and fear raged across the teen’s face. Julius didn’t even flinch when the guy spat out something. A large cloud of poison was shot at his face, but he used a little bit of aura to wipe out the poison effect and some kinetic energy to block it from making contact with his skin.

  He continued to hold him there. The worn crown was flickering with excitement. It could likely feel Julius’s emotions and was wondering if it would be able to have some fun.

  Throughout the entire fight, it had been slumbering, sitting on top of his head, gray and lifeless. The crown knew that Julius wasn’t taking the fight seriously and had decided to nap through it. However, now it was waking up, and Julius was forced to keep it from acting up.

  Julius didn’t like the guy, but he also didn’t have any plans to feed his opponent to his crown. He didn’t think ripping apart someone's soul with his own ruinous aura would be a good look for him.

  Although considering how the crowd reacted to the teen at the beginning of the fight, Julius suspected they wouldn’t mind it all that much. Still, he didn’t need to do that in front of the entire capital.

  He didn’t mind sharing his power with the public, but there was no need to show off everything right now. Not against someone this weak.

  The crown seemed to understand his thoughts and settled down with what felt like a pout. He gave it a little bit of fire mana as one would do for a dog that listened to their owner’s command. Or like a certain life spirit who loved mana.

  Once he got a handle on that, he finally focused on the man he had under the control of his kinetic energy. He was still trying to poison Julius with his skills, but it wasn’t working.

  Julius decided to end this fight. Without warning, he let some kinetic energy surge through his head.

  While his opponent wasn't someone he could learn much from, he was still a perfect punching bag on which he could try some of his skills. After all, he still needed to gain some kind of offensive kinetic skill if he wanted to combine [Kinetic Energy Refinement] and [Kinetic Shell] together.

  He manipulated his kinetic energy into a dense, swirling vortex, letting the vicious energy build.

  Then, before his opponent could realize what was happening, he slammed his head into their nose, taking some inspiration from Edgar’s earlier fight.

  There was something viscerally satisfying about headbutting someone. And so he did it again, feeling the cartilage in the guy’s nose get crushed underneath the crown of his head.

  Then again. And once more, just for good luck.

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  He released his hold over the poison user and let him fly off into the distance. He wiped the blood from his forehead with some aura as his opponent slammed into the barrier with a loud crash.

  Something appeared to protect his body from the impact, but it could only mitigate so much damage. Julius observed as the other teen staggered back to his feet, looking worse for wear.

  The smirk was gone, but Julius noticed their anger had increased tenfold. So it wasn’t surprising when the other boy was already rushing back in. His entire body was covered in this black poison, but Julius wasn’t worried.

  In fact, he was done playing around and unleashed his kinetic energy, immobilizing him in place. This technique was a weird one. It was one of his very first techniques for using kinetic energy, but he didn’t use it all that much.

  It required a lot of effort to use, and instead, he could put that effort and kinetic energy into crushing his target into dust. It was much more efficient that way.

  But he wanted to make a point, and so he overwhelmed his opponents with his aura. It wasn’t that hard. Despite being quite strong for a Tier 3, their willpower wasn’t enough to hold back the oppressive nature of his ruinous aura.

  Before his opponent could gasp, Julius’s aura had already suffocated him, and his kinetic energy froze him in place. Julius let him struggle there for a brief moment before taking control of the kinetic energy [Kinetic Shell] had created and using it to launch himself at the frozen figure.

  He siphoned all his kinetic energy from his movement and repurposed it, letting it flow into his arm in a rush. He maintained control and smashed his fist into his opponent's face, laying multiple panels of kinetic energy over his hands.

  He did his best to recycle the leftover kinetic energy and delivered a hook into their ribs. He took one step back and kicked them in the stomach. He felt something pop like a balloon inside them. However, he ignored it and grabbed his opponent by the ears and brought his knee upwards, letting the bottom of the guy’s chin and his kneecap slam together.

  He felt his opponent’s jaw shatter from the impact. He was about to continue his onslaught when a white light formed over their body, and Julius wasn’t able to do anything as it disappeared in a flash of light. The life-saving enchantments are protecting the guy from any more abuse from Julius.

  He dropped his shoulders in disappointment. He had been hoping for a little more fun than that. Sadly, his opponent had been weaker than expected.

  ***

  Julius didn’t even have much time to relax after his match. Once his match was over, he was dragged back to the Zenith Estate by Cain. The large man was quite insistent, and Julius could do nothing to stop him.

  He found himself standing before a group of unfamiliar faces. One of them, he actually recognized.

  It was the same guy he had faced in the earlier round, the one who had used his liquid metal to create a suit of armor.

  There were two other young faces with Erik. One was a stocky young man. The other was a short and petite young lady. They both looked nervous as they glanced between him, Cain, and the tall figure standing in front of them.

  Speaking of the large figure. Julius inspected the man. He wasn’t as large as Cain, but he still proved to be quite intimidating. Also, the man emitted a subtle pressure similar to Cain.

  Julius was almost sure this guy was powerful. He didn’t sense any aura that would indicate he was Tier 6, but Julius had been around enough Tier 6s that he could tell when someone was hiding their tier.

  Cain gestured at this group of people as if he were unveiling something spectacular.

  “Whattaya think?”

  “Think about what? Them?” Julius turned and asked Cain with a frown.

  “Yeah. They are your new sparring partners?”

  “Why do I need sparring partners? I got you, don’t I?” Julius was still confused.

  “Of course, but I think you need some variation from time to time. These people will provide that while you are here in the capital.”

  “I got my friends, is that not enough?”

  Cain pulled him in by the shoulder and sighed as if disappointed by Julius's answer. “How well do you know your friend’s fighting style?” He asked.

  Julius sagged his shoulders, admitting he had a point. “Pretty well.”

  “See? That’s why I got you these people to train with. Don’t worry, they are trustworthy people. They are all a part of the Sentinel Guild. One of the most upstanding and honorable guilds you can find,” Cain said with a respectful nod toward these people.

  That testimony itself was telling. Even more so when he knew it was coming from Cain. Despite how silly the man acted at times, Julius knew Cain was a deeply distrustful person and even more paranoid than Freya. Especially when it came to people he cared about.

  He wouldn’t say such things without being confident in his words.

  Julius had also heard about the Sentinel Guild when he had attended Goldencrest. Apparently, they were one of the few guilds that specialized in fighting monsters and protecting people from catastrophic disasters. From what little he knew, they sounded like a good guild.

  The exact opposite feeling he got from the Umbral Serpent Guild.

  Julius nodded and bowed toward this group of people. But he frowned and pointed at the large man in front. “What about him? Is he going to be my sparring partner as well?” Julius asked Cain with a little bit of hesitation in his tone.

  “Maybe, I think he could be convinced,” Cain noted with a look at the guy in question.

  Julius pressed his lips together as he stared as well.

  “What? You scared of him?” Cain teased.

  Julius thought about it for a moment. If this man was in fact a Tier 6, then, by all means, he should have been scared. However, he had also been training under Cain for the past several months, and getting demolished by someone three tiers above him had a way of warping his perception of what was a dangerous sparring partner.

  In any case, Julius couldn't imagine this other guy beating him as severely as Cain did.

  He thought this, but caught a smirk on Cain’s face for some reason when he stared at Julius. It was as if the man could read his mind. Julius felt some suspicion growing as he looked back and forth between Cain and the newcomers.

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